A Political Problem

While the "Do Not Call" List was very popular (with participation by people on the list voluntary), this was just one of many political issues. Except ...

Hello, I'm calling on behalf of the Elephant in the Room. Would you like to
buy an Elephant in the Room?

The quintessential political robocall. Political calls were exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry, but voters can easily be reminded that the candidate voted against the "Do Not Call" List. In political terms, this creates bad optics.

As we saw, particularly during the 2008 election, the votes against implementing the "Do Not Call" List had the obvious political effect.

A First Political Victim

(Well, maybe not the first but the most famous)

As noted in the original telemarketing_votes.html page (appended below), one of the few US Congresspeople who voted
against the Federal "Do Not Call" List is one
Ron Paul.

This had gone essentially unnoticed, and was ascribed to some political beliefs
of Ron Paul, perhaps relating to the gub'ment not telling
telemarketing scum what to do. As mentioned in the "original page, this was more significant as an
indication of the individual Congresspeople's regard for their constituents
than for the effect on the "Do Not Call" List itself. (The
List received nearly unanimous Congressional support.)

In 2007-08 Ron Paul was running for President. As in "The
President", "White House Occupant". POTUS.
In order to gain the Republican Party nomination, Ron Paul would
have to defeat several prominent pols.

But there's another way. If no single candidate garners enough nomination
deligates, one of two things happens:

One or more nominees drops out and enough of the delegates of that nominees
move to a different candidate; one candidate enters the Republican National
Convention with sufficent delegates to take the nomination anyway.

No one candidate takes the nomination going into the convention, resulting
in a brokered convention. This was how Ron Paul was to
have a chance at the election.

Come Ron Paul. Ron Paul has mounted a sort of grass
roots campaign, and would be in an excellent position to garner enough votes
from a brokered convention to win the nomination.
Except for one problem -- that vote against the
"Do Not Call" List. (Twice!)

In contrast, more realistic possibilities are ... well just
think of the descriptors of all of the major US candidates and what they either
are or what their political positions are:

Receiving financial support from special interests (other than the
telemarketing industry)

Receiving substantial financial support from people with criminal
indictments

Supporting the war in Iraq (This was 2003.)

Refusing to support the war in Iraq

Refusing to support the war in Iraq sometimes and supporting the war in
Iraq other times

A documented history of "tanking" national health care programs

Religious beliefs issues

Open support for a woman who expressed a desire to drive off the George
Washington Bridge with her children. (That was within
earshot of the child. As of October-07, the candidate still has not
retracted her support. She also lost to Donald Trump, so go figure!)

Opposing abortion

Supporting abortion (choice) - in a Republican primary

Both opposing and supporting abortion (also a Republican)

A Republican candidate who supported gun control

Obviously all of these are major issues, yet those candidates were
viable.

John McCain now has the GOP nomination cinched (and threw Thomas Tancredo under
the bus), but that wasn't a given at the beginning of the campaign. It is
noteworthy that during the nomination, a candidate "getting less votes
than RonPaul" was regarded as a definitive loss.

Maybe Ron Paul should have "called" on his telemarketing
industry supporters to get the nominating convention to take him seriously.

The Telemarketing Scum Page apparently also took on Ted Strickland. And
won. Ted Strickland had a realistic chance and was considered a top contender
for Barack Obama's VP pick in early June. Within 2 weeks, Strickland
was out.

Late breaking - 5-June-2010 -- Ken Meeks bites the
dust!

apparently
Democratic Party strategists are abandoning Ken Meeks, the Democratic
frontrunner in a campaign for the US Senate, in favor of
Republican/Independent Charlie Crist.

Ken Meeks was one of 8 morons who gave the public the middle fingervoted against the "Do Not Call" List.

The Telemarketing Scum Page vs. Supporters of The Telemarketing Scum

Ron Paul - No chance if the election went to the convention; no
chance for VP. He wasn't even given the Libertarian or Constitutional
nomination!

Chris Cannon - In a safe district (Republican in a district which
has a Cook PVI of R+22!), but defeated in the primary despite
outspending his opponent 6 to 1 !

Ken Meeks - Supposedly unbeatable. Well, until 2010,
when his own party abandoned him in favor of moderate Republican
Charlie Crist.

Why This Mattered

Actually the "Do Not Call" List is a non-issue in
Presidental politics.

The reason it matters is because of the nature of the Vice Presidental
candidacy and the nature of the campaign itself. The Vice Presidental
candidate is a running mate, which means that xe is selected to augment
the main candidate but must not do harm. (One criteria
is the possibility of "pulling" a swing state, but Gore, Cheney and
Biden don't even meet that qualification.)

There's a simple reason for the damaged goods status -- telephone banks
are extensively used by national candidates.

Part of the "must not do harm" is no harm to the campaign itself. In
a major campaign, candidates maximize telemarketing. That irritates voters,
but presumably they find a tolerable level of irritation that will not repel
voters. Still, voters are irritated by the calls. For this
reason a major candidates does not want to share the ticket with
someone who is on record as having voted against the
"Do Not Call" list. If the opponent is able to point out
that the candidates calling voters also opposed the
"Do Not Call" List, that has the potential of causing
voters to "take it out" on the offending campaign.

Hence an otherwise insignificant issue (at least in the campaign) can affect
voters.

Ron Paul, you said "f*** you" to the American public, but nobody
cared because you're considered a nut case anyway. Go back to disclaiming the
hate articles in your magazine.

Ted Strickland, you said "f*** you" to the public and Ohio voters
apparently ate it up. The problem is Chicago election managers also understood
the implications of this. You still have a chance -- If RonPaul decides to run
as an independent, he will need a running mate!

Congressmen Who Voted Against the

Federal Telemarketing Rule (US)

The following was originally posted in 2003, when the
"Do Not Call" List was established. I left the
"damaged goods" edits in there because this was the only webpage on
the net that specifically addressed that issue in June-2008 when Ted Strickland was being considered as a vice-presidential candidate.

BACKGROUND

On 24-Sep-03, a federal judge in Oklahoma (or someplace like that) issued a
temporary injunction staying the implementation of the
"do not call" provisions of the Federal Telemarketing Rule.
The basis for the injunction is that the FTC exceeded its legislative mandate
in invoking the Rule. HELLO ?!! -- Didn't Congress
specifically fund this "do not call" list last February
(2003)?

This injunction is subject to review by the Federal Court of Appeals
(10th Cir. if this is from Oklahoma).

In the meantime, it is likely that Congress will enact enabling legislation
expeditiously. There are 50 million people who signed onto the
"do not call" list. If 1 in 1000 of those people call
their Congressional representatives, they will receive 50,000 calls on the
subject. No matter how much lobbying the telescum do, no elected official
wants to get the blame on this one!

The House (lower house of US Congress) passed new enablement legislation
25-Sep-2003 412 to 8. The debate lasted an hour. (The Holy See
in the Vatican is considering whether to classify this as a miracle.) The
Senate is expected to pass corresponding legislation that evening or the next
day. === Senate voted 95-0; Pres. Bush xpct'd to say "Add me to your
'do not call' list." faster than he'd send Saadam Hussain to
Gitmo.

=== Meantime, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
indicated that they would accept the list should the court block the FTC
(Federal Trade Comm'n) from enforcing the call prohibition. This could be
implemented as "emergency rulemaking" under the Administrative
Procedures Act (APA).

Further information on Yahoo
(search for "Telemarketing" under the "news")

The Votes

There were two bills:

H R 395: Do-Not-Call Implementation Act

Passed the House 12-Feb-2003

The original bill to ratify, enable, and authorize funding for the Rule
implemented by the FTC, and to mandate the FCC implement a corresponding rule.

H R 3161: To Ratify the Authority of the Federal Trade Commission to
Establish a Do-Not-Call Registry

Passed the House 25-Sep-2003. Enacted within a day after some Oklahoma
judge ruled the "do not call" provisions of the Federal
Telemarketing Rule invalid.

As of Tuesday, 7-Oct-03 the 10th Cir. Ct. Appeals reversed the Denver court's
injunction, meaning the FTC is cleared to enforce the
"Do Not Call" provisions of the Telemarketing
Regulation, and presumably forward a copy of the list to the FCC. In
addition, the FCC is enforcing parallel rules. This can be reversed by the
lower court, but the 10th Circuit indicated it didn't think a challenge would
be likely to succeed when brought back through the Ct. of Appeals. Ultimately
this will be either reviewed by the Supremes (without Diana Ross) or they'll
deny cert. and allow a circuit court ruling to stand.

The FTC's "Do Not Call" is now also the FCC's list.
The lists are being maintained jointly by the FTC and FCC. Several links to
the list are below.

This contrasts in its wording with the traditional 3-part test used in most
US jurisdictions, and specifically takes into account public and
third-party interests.

Of greater interest is the fact that the 10th Circuit court expressed an
opinion that they would probably rule in favour of one party (the FTC).
"... On the record presented, we conclude that petitioners have failed to
establish a substantial likelihood of success on the merits
... ."10th&Cir. no. 03-9571, 26-Sep-03.

The Oklahoma District Ct. ruling relates to jurisdiction and was made moot by
the Telecommunications Rule Enablement Law, presumably signed into law on
29th Sep. Curiously, the Denver District Ct. ruling contradicts
the Oklahoma District Ct. ruling on the matter of jurisdiction.

Also of note, it does not appear that the corresponding FCC rule, using
the same list, was subject to either court ruling. This would have meant that
even if the FTC "Do Not Call" list is held
unenforcable, there would be no corresponding ruling affecting the FCC's rule.

Damaged Goods

Congressmen Who Voted Against

H R 395: Do-Not-Call Implementation Act, passed the House 12-FEB-2003

The vote against the "Do Not Call" list would turn out
to be a major gaffe, and is particularly potent in elective offices (e.g., Vice
President, Lieutenant Governor) where that vote carries liability for a running
mate.

I decided to bite my tongue and not use derogative names here. Besides, these
people, if elected, have at least a moderate amount of intelligence.

Strickland (Lucasville, OH, d, Governor Ted Strickland) Would have
been a potential running mate had Hillary Clinton taken the nomination.
Now Damaged Goods. This is particularly significant for a Vice
Presidental candidate because he would be likely to lose more votes than
he would bring in. (Would that have destroyed Hillary's inevitability?)

There's a simple reason for the damaged goods status -- Telephone banks
are extensively used by national candidates. For this reason a
major candidate does not want to share the ticket with someone who is on record
as having voted against the "Do Not Call" list.

Ryan (Niles, OH, d, Representative Tim
Ryan) (note - there is at least one other "Ryan")

Tancredo (Littleton, CO, r, Representative Thomas
Tancredo) Ran for Democratic Presidental nominee, but dropped out before
his voting record came into play. Votes against the
"Do Not Call" list made him damaged goods for Vice
President.

H R 3161: To Ratify the Authority of the Federal Trade Commission to Establish
a Do-Not-Call Registry

(Duplicate names -- the Congressmen from NY, WI, KS all voted in favor or
abstained. I did not include abstentions because under the circumstances of a
412-8 vote, being 'present' was merely symbolic.)

The above list has 2 from Utah. Utah only has 3 Representatives total!

This was an easy one, given the 50 million who signed up for the list before it
started.

The Senate unanimously passed both bills.

Obviously, if a politician has a reasonably secure seat, xe can afford to
stick that middle finger at the public (or the 70% who ultimately signed onto
the List), but also presume that to be close to the highpoint of xyr career.
As soon as a close election comes along, expect the public to be reminded of
that middle finger!